Handle for umbrellas, &amp;c.



No. 639,731. Patented Dec. 26, |999. F. c. HULL.

HANDLE FOB UMBRELLAS, &c.

(Application led Aug. 20, 1898.)

(No Model.)

iff-f NTTED STATES Fries.

PATENT FLETCHER O. HULL, OF NORWALK, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE HULL UMBRELLACOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

HANDLE FOR UMBRELLAS, ate.

srncrrrcAcroN forming part ef Lettere Patent No. 639,731, dated Decemberze, 1899.

Application iilecl August 20, 1898. Serial No. 689,146. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLETCHER C. HULL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norwalk, in the county of Huron and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Handles for Umbrellas,&c. and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in handles for umbrellas, dac.; andthe object I have in view is to provide a readily removable ordetachable handle free from either lateral or vertical displacement,thus effectually locking it to the stai'.

It consists in the combination, with a handle and staff, of aspring-detent arranged within said staff and having teeth adapted topass through the staff and engage with the sleeve of the handle; and theinvention fur-y ther consists in the detailed construction` andarrangement of parts, as will be more fully hereinafter described andclaimed.

I have shown the preferred embodiment of my invention in theaccompanying drawings, referring to which- Figure lis a side elevation.Fig. 2 is a sectional view through operative parts. Fig. 3 is a detailview, on an elarged scale, of aportion of the detent. Fig. 4 shows themanner yof applying the detent to the sta.

Like letters denote like or corresponding parts in all the iigures ofthe drawings.

Ajdesignates the handle, and B the staff, of an umbrella. The handle isprovided with a sleeve C of greater diameter than the sta, having ailange or cap D formed thereon at a suitable point between its ends. Oneend c of this sleeve C is driven into or otherwise secured to thehandle, while the other end c has opposite notches e e, extending fromthe edge inward a suitable distance, and in longitudinal alinement withone of said notches is formed an aperture or slot f. The sta B ispreferably constructed of metal and hollow. Atasuitable point in thisstai is formed a slot or aperture g, while on the opposite side of saidstaff is also formed aslot h, preferably of greater length than the slotg, and at a suitable point above the slot h, in longitudinal alinementtherewith, is another slot c', the walls ot' 'which may be beveled, aswill be presently explained. Aspr'ing-detent K, stamped out of orotherwise produced from spring metal, is adapted to be inserted and heldin said staff B, one arm Z of said detent being provided with a toothf/t, formed at or near its free end, while the other arm m, preferablylonger than the iirst-named arm', also has a tooth o, serving as acatch, formed at or near its end. Ata point preferably oppo- .site thetooth fit of arm Z I provide an elongated thuinbpiece p on the arm m,said than the inside diameter of the staff B. Therefore in order toinsert the detent into the staff I bend or lap one arm upon the other,as shown in Fig. 4, and by the use of a suitable implement-for instance,a pair of pincers gripping the detent-force the detentK into the staffuntil its tooth o and the elongated thumb-piece p come opposite orengage the slots t' and h, respectively, and the tooth n comes oppositethe slot or aperture g t the same closely. To fasten the handle to thestaff, the sleeve O is slid on the latter, the tooth or catch 0incidentally intercepting the notch e, serving as a guide in aliningsaid tooth with the slot or aperture f, which nally receives said tooth,said tooth or catch o as the handle is continued to be moved inwardpassing said notch and being forced inward until its outer surface isflush with the exterior surface of the staff as it is engaged by theinside of said sleeve. The instant, however, the slot or aperture farrives opposite said tooth the latter will be thrown outward by theaction of the detent and forced through or into said aperture f, thuselfecting the retention of the sleeve and handle in place upon thestaff. At the same time the tooth 'n and thumb-piece p will have enteredthe notches e' and e, respectively. Thus it will be noted that thehandle cannot be forced any farther inward on the stad, nor can it havelateral or axial movement thereon, this being prevented by means of theengagement therewith of the teeth or lugs n o and the thumb-piece 19,and the handle cannot be removed or withdrawn from the staff while thetooth or catch o is in engagement with the slot f in the sleeve,thereby, as before stated, effectually holding the handle on the staff.The teeth and thumb-piece are preferably iiush with the outer surface ofthe sleeve.

It will be noticed that the thumb-piecep extends beyond the lower end oredge of the sleeve C when assembled, and this extension or elongationserves as a convenient means for retracting or disengagin g the tooth ofrom engagement with the slot f, and thus permitting the handle to beremoved.

.The detent is securely held within the staif by reason of theengagement of the lug 'n therewith and cannot be accidentally displacedeven if this construction be destroyed, as the arms are normally forcedapart, causing their teeth to forcibly engage the staff, and, as beforeexplained, the arms have to be lapped one upon the other before thedetentcan be inserted into or removed from the stad owing to the detentbeing of greater cross-sectional area than said staff when the arms aresimply pressed together.

The tooth or catch o should bite forcibly upon the edge of and readilyengage the slot f, and to insure this I may bevel one edge 0, as shown,and, if found desirable, the walls of the slot f may also be beveled.

The device can be cheaply constructed, and when the parts are assembledthe handle can be easily and quickly applied or detached. Theseimprovements are obviously applicable to canes.

I am aware that changes and alterations in the form and proportion ofparts in the details of construction of the devices herein shown anddescribed as the preferred embodiment of myinvention may be made by askilled mechanic Without departing from the spirit or sacriiicing theadvantages thereof, and I therefore reserve the right to make suchchanges as fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

It will be noticed that the lug or tooth o is relieved from bearing theentire strain or tendency of the handle to move about the axis of thestaff and is assisted in this function by means of the lugs or teeth/no. Also, it will be noticed that the means for locking the handleagainst such rotary movement are not all arranged in one linelongitudinally or at one side only of the staff and sleeve. By lockingthe sleeve to the staif at two points (a p) diametrically opposed toeach other, as well as by the lug o, it is apparent that I materiallystrengthen the construction, as thereby I provide three Adistinct andindependent connections between the sleeve and stad, where heretoforedependence has been placed upon a single point of connection for thispurpose. Again, by utilizing the lug p, both as a stop against rotarymovement of the sleeve and as a means for withdrawing the lug o fromoperative position, I am enabled to arrange this last lu g at pointsrelatively remote from the ends of the sleeve and at the same timeprovide for readily withdrawing it without the aid or employment of anyspecial implement. When no such means as the thumbpiece independent ofthe lug that connects the sleeve to the staff and which is always in aposition accessible to the user of the umbrella is provided, it isdifficult to release the handle from the staff. To do so, the lug mustbe forced inwardly beyond the inner surface of the handle-sleeve, andthis can vonly be accomplished, as the lug is necessarily small, byemploying a tool or implement which can enter the slot through which thelug projects, and as the lug is situated at the end of a spring-arm thiscourse of procedure tends to destroy the proper position and resiliencyof theV spring-arm.

Having thus fully described my invention', what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In an umbrella, the combination of the staff having opposite slots,the handle, the sleeve let into said handle and sleeved upon said staffand having opposite notches in one edge or end and an aperture above,-and in alinement with, one of said notches, and the compressiblespring-detent arranged in said staff and havinga projection at one endadapted to pass through one of said slots and to engage one of saidnotches, and having at its other end a catch or projection adapted toengage said aperture, and below said catch, a thumb-piece adapted topass through the coincident slot and notch of said staff andsleeve,respectively,substantially as set forth.

2. In an umbrella, the combination of a staff, a handle havin g at itslower end a sleeve extending below the handle and over the staif, and afastening device having a yielding arm arranged within the staff andprovided at its upper end with a lug extending into alined Ido aperturesin the staff and sleeve on the hangage the first said lug fromengagement with dle, said spring-arm also having, at a point thehandle-sleeve, substantially as set forth. ro intermediate of its ends,a lug extending In testimony whereof I affix my signature through anaperture in the staff and into a in presence of two witnesses. s

noteh formed in the lower edge of the han- FLETCHER C. HULL. die-sleeve,the last said lug extending below Witnesses:

the lower end of the sleeve and serving as a RANDOLPH P. HULL,

' thumb-piece for adjusting the arm to disen- S. T. A. VAN SCIvER.

